Cracks in the Foundation
by JHLZ.NTL
Summary: Lin and Tenzin struggle to fulfill their respective destinies and their legacies. Fate paired them for a reason, knowing full well the road to their future together would never be easy. This is the rated T version. There will be a rated M version that will be updated simultaneously.
1. Reservations

**A/N: It is a prequel to "In Isolation" which is a prequel to "Lives Forgotten". All can be read independently and still be understood.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Reservations

The harsh of the bay was a constant comfort to the Avatar. He was the last airbender until thirty years ago when his second son and last child was born. The Avatar, Aang, loved meditating with his native element, air, swirling around him, enveloping him in what felt like a large warm hug. He loved it even more when his airbending son meditated beside him, but alas, the young man hadn't had time for the elder in recent years. His priority was, not surprisingly, a young lady.

This young lady lived in the city. While she was not opposed to being on the island, or surrounded by wind, that was if she were standing on a cliff, she was opposed to the only two methods of getting to the island. She was an earthbender, a prodigious earthbender in her youth and now a legendary master in her prime. She was one of seven people in the world who were proficient with seismic sense and absolutely despised flying on her boyfriend's sky bison, and riding the ferry over choppy waters just to get to the island.

So, the Avatar's son moved onto the mainland and into his lady's apartment, tucked away in the city, shielded from the harsh, yet comforting winds of the bay to be with her every single day.

The Avatar was not at all disappointed in the new arrangement. While marriage did not seem very important for either party, he didn't mind. They were together and happy, and that made him happy. At this point, the son was the strongest airbender the world, and his girlfriend, arguably the strongest earthbender in the world. The Avatar had full confidence in their decision-making and trusted that they would fulfill their destiny together when they were ready.

His son, and his son's girlfriend's children would be powerful, Aang realized almost as soon as they had announced themselves as a couple. They would have the blood of all four nations, even if they didn't realize it. The Avatar's son had within him the blood of the most powerful waterbender in Southern Water Tribe and arguably the world, and the blood of the Avatar hailing from the Southern Air Temple. His girlfriend had the blood of the most powerful earthbender that ever lived, the inventor of metalbending from Gaoling, and one of the most brilliant inventors to ever come from the Fire Islands. It brought a smile to the Avatar's face every time he thought of the grandchildren they would bring forth into the world. He never said anything to them, but he knew it would be their destiny.

While the wooden floors of the meditation pagoda rendered the Avatar's own seismic sense useless, it did not impede his airbending. He felt the air being pushed around him ever so slightly as the young lady approached his resting form.

"Uncle Aang. I'm sorry to interrupt but Aunt Katara said you'd already been out here for a few hours. I just wanted to talk to you about something and was hoping to get back to the city, to Tenzin before he returned home from work so I could make him dinner, or something," the young lady said softly. Her voice, though cold, coarse, and unyielding when she dealt with vagabonds in her line of work, sounded smoother than water rippling over smoothed rocks in a stream when she spoke to him or anybody in his family. "May I join you?" she asked politely. This young lady was always so much more polite, thoughtful, and eloquent than her crass, rash, and somewhat impulsive mother that became the Avatar's friend way back when the 100 Year War was still happening.

"Of course, Lin. What is it, my Sweet?" the Avatar asked the young lady opening his eyes and moving over to give her space to sit beside him

Lin sat, crossing her legs in the full lotus position just like him out of habit and leaned her head against his body as he draped an arm over her shoulders, naturally. He held her the same way he had been since she was a girl barely four-years-old. Often times, she came crying to him about how her mother yelled at her for not 'trying' during her earthbending training. She never knew her father since he died while she was still in her mother's womb, and it hurt her mother too much to ever speak of him, so the Avatar became her only source of pure safety.

"It's about Tenzin… and me…" Lin began to say slowly. Aang turned to look at her. She seemed troubled. Her voice was shaky and her heart was beating through her armour rather quickly. Her eyes were glistening with tears that she was trying, in vain, to keep from falling.

Aang nodded for her to continue.

"The papers…" she started, hesitating.

Aang could already tell where this was going, and he sighed, but said nothing and let her continue.

"The papers say I am the last hope for the Air Nation and I…" Lin sniffled. "I'm just afraid… Tenzin… He said that I should just ignore the papers. That they're just… just written by jealous young hussies who want to steal him away from me… He says he can wait… He says he WILL wait for me... but…."

"Wait for what?" Aang interrupted her.

"You know what," she said turning to face him with big fat tears in the corners of her eyes, and trails of dried tears marring her sweet face.

"To have children?" Aang confirmed.

She nodded and closed her eyes, letting them fall down her high cheekbones and smooth skin before turning back to gaze upon the orange horizon.

"I know he needs them… and I want them… I do… but I am not sure I will ever be ready to…" she said faintly.

"Lin, I won't rush you either. Your feelings are valid. You're only human and you have every right to be afraid, but you are Lin Beifong. You are stronger than steel, tougher to break than the element you bend, and shine brighter and more beautifully than diamond. At this point you need only ask yourself one thing. Why are you afraid?"

"Well…. maybe because I am Chief of Police now,"

 _Bullshit_ , Aang thought to himself with his arm still around her. He felt her heart skip a beat like it did every time she lied to him.

"You have been chief for six years, now and you've always been okay. What changed?"

"Nothing… It is just… babies are so… needy and vulnerable and… and… weak. What if… what if the triads come after them… and take them hostage… to get to Tenzin, or me. They wouldn't be able to defend themselves like I couldn't when I was five and they came to take me. I am not sure I could endure such a thing," Lin explained.

"Lin, dear, listen to me. Nobody would dare come neaer the grandson or granddaughter of the AVATAR while he is still alive. And Besides, you are not your mother,"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Nobody will mess with you. Now, ordinarily I would not speak ill of her, but these are mere facts. Toph was a great chief of police, and an excellent earth and metalbender, but she was still reckless at times, and occasionally impulsive. You, on the other hand, miss nothing. The Triads know that and you know that. Now, with that in the air, I can say with one hundred percent certainty that a hostage situation is not your primary concern. Remember, you can always be honest with me, Lin," Aang reminded her.

Lin took a deep breath to process and accept what the Avatar said. Aang didn't mind. He waited patiently while she said nothing for a long time. It didn't matter; he knew she'd speak when she was ready, just how she would have children when she was ready.

"What if... what if my children are earthbenders... what if I fail everybody?" Lin asked.

"Lin, there is nothing wrong with having earthbenders," Aang informed her.

"But Uncle, what if I have ONLY earthbenders?!" Lin asked. "What if Tenzin stops loving me? What if I can't help him rebuild the Air Nation? Aunt Katara told me how birthing Tenzin nearly killed her. She told me you guys had to stop, that it was far too risky to try again. What if after one child, I can't continue and he has to leave me?"

"Lin, listen to me, you are so much younger than Katara was when she birthed Tenzin. You're stronger and will have the greatest healer in the world by your side every step of the way. I may not be a prophet, but with all of my avatar wisdom, I can tell you with complete confidence that you WILL have an air baby eventually."

"But how do you know?" Lin demanded skeptically.

"Do you know how Tenzin got Oogi so many years ago?" Aang asked.

"Yes! You guys have told us the story at least a thousand times!" Lin replied with a brusque air of annoyance.

"Well, I am going to tell you again. When I came to fetch Tenzin to get his bison, he insisted you come along. You two were inseparable since the day you were born. When Tenzin learned to walk, he refused to go anywhere unless someone carried you along. He refused to leave your side, and when you began to learn to walk, he would hold your hand and guide you across the various terrains on the island…"

"I don't see how any of this is justifies your confidence in my ability to birth airbabies," Lin interrupted frowning.

"Let me finish, you impatient little badgermole," Aang scolded. Lin harrumphed and folded her arms, still leaning comfortably against his body.

"He insisted you accompany us to the pasture where the bison grazed. He wandered around hopelessly offering his apple to any and every baby bison he came across, but was rejected every time. Then, one baby bison took notice of you. You were frightened at the time, would you believe it? Do you remember being truly terrified of Oogi? The bison wouldn't stop smelling your five-year-old belly. He must have sensed something inside of you... some potential for greatness for he did not leave you alone even after you screamed and cried, earthbent a rock at him to prove you couldn't be friends for. He ignored your antics and remained standing before you, obsessed with your little baby belly. You convinced him to accept Tenzin's apple, effectively bonding them for life, the three of you hugged. Tenzin said 'I guess this means we'll be together for life,' and you added, 'All of us,' and with that, the baby bison licked you a third time." Aang said. Lin still did not looked convinced.

"But what if I don't have an airbender the first time?"

"Then you can try again. Not immediately, of course. Your body will need time to recover, but that's fine. You have time, Lin. Don't let this fear stop you from living life, and giving life," Aang said putting an arm around her touching her flat stomach. "I know you, you don't back down from challenges and you don't give up when things are rough, and Lin,"

"Hm?"

"It's okay to cry," Aang said tenderly.

"Thank you, Uncle Aang,"

"No, thank YOU, Lin for sharing your qualms with me," Aang replied.

* * *

Tenzin was late coming home. He must have gotten tied up with some pesky councilmen. Lin didn't worry. She knew they were all stressing at City Hall over the upcoming elections. She pulled out a bowl and made a serving of the water tribe dish she cooked for him before putting the rest of the leftovers in the icebox. She debated reading a book, listening to the radio and going to bed when something caught her eye. It was a photo set on the mantle above the fireplace. Aunt Katara and Uncle Aang had given it to Lin and Tenzin on their anniversary. The family always joked the two had been subconsciously dating since Lin was conceived. The photoset included seven pictures. The first was Tenzin kneeling on Toph's birthing bed inspecting Lin curiously. The second was when they were five and four years old. Aang had taken the two toddlers to the Autumn Winds Festival. The next they were thirteen and twelve and awkward as ever. Tenzin pretended to be indifferent and Lin pretended to hate him. The fourth was when they were nineteen and eighteen. They were attached at the hip. Lin in uniform and Tenzin a councilman in training. The next, Lin was chief of Police, and Tenzin was standing in his new mastery tattoos, both of them were beaming.

Lin made her decision. She went to the cabinet in her kitchen and pulled down her container of moon tea. It was nearly full. She had just replenished it last week. She looked at it and sighed before carrying it over to the fireplace. She hesitated one last time as Tenzin came inside.

"Lin! What are you doing?!" Tenzin demanded as a wave of protectiveness overwhelmed him. He dropped his belongings and ran over to pull Lin away from the "dangerous" fire.

"Relax, Baldy!" I'm fine! I'm just thinking…" Lin said shrugging his hands off of her shoulders.

"About what?" Tenzin asked oblivious to what she was holding. "Am I in trouble again?"

Lin smiled. "Why do you always think it is about you?" Lin asked.

"Because I know you, and you're always mad at me," Tenzin replied with the same goofy grin he shared with his father.

"That is not true!" Lin insisted, turning back to face the fire. She pulled the tin of moon tea out from where she clutched it against her chest so he could see.

"Don't you need,"

"No, I don't. Not anymore, at least," she said opening it. She used her metalbending to lift the container over the flames in the fireplace without getting burned and poured the dry leaves into the blaze creating tiny embers, lighting up the place. She turned to Tenzin nervously but avoided his eyes.

"You could get pregnant without it." Tenzin reminded her.

"I know, and… I want to…" she said looking down, feeling his gaze on her body. "I—" She looked up directly into his blue-grey eyes. "I'm ready."

* * *

Aang sat with his arm over his son's girlfriend. She was crying again and needed his shoulder now more than ever.

"Uncle Aang, even if Tenzin still loves me, the world will turn against me if my son isn't an airbender. I will be seen as a selfish little earthbender. They will accuse me of 'legacy digging' as if I didn't already have big enough shoes to fill with my own mother's statue standing above me every morning!" Lin ranted to Aang one beautiful evening as they watched the sun set over Republic City. Lin was four months pregnant and had become rather emotional as of late.

"The world won't turn against you! Did they turn against Katara when Bumi was born a nonbender? No. Did they give up on her when Kya was born a waterbender? No! They won't turn against you, Lin. Besides, it doesn't even matter what they think. You must understand that you are loved by us, your family, and we are all that matter right now," Aang said.

* * *

Katara kicked everyone including Tenzin out of the birthing room. All Tenzin knew for the next eight hours was the periodic tremors that shook the entire island every time a contraction hit his Lady. Finally, the tremors ceased. Tenzin let out a sigh of relief. He knew the ordeal was complete, yet could not find the energy to move a single muscle in his body despite having done absolutely NOTHING compared to his lady.

"What are you doing out here, Son?" Aang asked sitting beside Tenzin on the front steps of the main house on Air Temple Island.

"Thinking," Tenzin replied with his elbows perched on his knees, his eyes looking downcast at the ground before him."

"About what?"

"My son," Tenzin replied with a sort of melancholic tone in his voice.

"He is a beautiful boy, strong and healthy…" Aang, ever the optimistic one, began to say.

"Mom says he's an earthbender," Tenzin said sadly.

"So?" Aang asked, a little disappointed in his son for not loving his unconditionally.

"My son, is an earthbender," Tenzin breathed.

"And my daughter is a waterbender," Aang reminded him.

"Sorry, Dad. I just don't k now what to think?"

"What is there to think? Do you question Lin's loyalty to you?" Aang asked.

"What? No! Of course not! How could you-"

"Do you love Lin?" Aang asked.

"Yes! Father, she is my entire world! How could you even ask such a thing?"

"Is Lin an airbender?" Aang asked.

"No, but—tenzin began to question again.

"Then I think your path is clear, my son. You love Lin and you will love her son, YOUR son just as much. Go to them, now. Your absence has already been noticed," Aang ordered his son.

"I'm sorry." Tenzin said miserably.

"I am not the one you should be apologizing to," Aang said simply.

Tenzin took a deep breath pushed the door to the birthing room open slowly to find his lady with a small bundle of green and orange resting on her chest. Even covered in sweat she was beautiful, maybe even more so than before. His mother vacated the bedside chair for him and departed the room with a smile. Tenzin sat down while his father closed the door and backed out.

Tenzin took his wife's limp left hand with his right. She was sleeping. Then he reached over with his left to peel back a bit of the blanket covering the baby. He saw a small mushy face and his heart melted. Those tiny lips, those big cheeks, those tiny ears and tiny eyes almost instantly replaced Lin as the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. This was HIS baby too.

"Tenzin," he heard her faint voice say.

"I'm here, Lin," Tenzin said leaning close to her face, giving her hand a light squeeze.

"I'm sorry," she sighed closing her eyes. Tenzin turned to the unmarred side of Lin's beautiful face in time to see a tear roll down her cheek running into the swear in her hair.

His face fell and is heart broke for her. "What?" He asked. "Why? What is there to be sorry for? We have a beautiful healthy baby boy! I know I couldn't be happier!"

"But... he's an earthbender. The first time he cried, he caused the earthquakes. I tried..." she cried holding onto her son as if she expected Tenzin to bolt right there and make their son all she had left.

"Lin, listen to me, my love, my Earth, my anchor," Tenzin said reaching up to cup her face. "Are you an an airbender?"

"No," Lin replied crying.

"And do I love you, to the world and back?"

"Yes,"

"I love him in the same way already, Lin, for he is yours, and he is mine. Both of our blood runs through his tiny veins and I could not be more grateful and happy that he came out healthy and is here with us now!" Tenzin said kissing her head.

She wrapped one arm around his, holding it to her chest as she kissed him back with tears in her eyes.

Tenzin could feel the worry radiating from her body and felt terrible for being the cause of most of her fears and anxiety. He would have to prove his love for his son.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **I was thinking about a review someone wrote to one of my other stories (either "In Isolation" or "Lives Forgotten") about how Aang was still alive for the birth of my first three Linzin Baby OCs and how they thought Aang would not have been able to keep the existence of his grandchildren a secret because he would be too excited and proud that he wouldn't be able to contain himself. So, I thought I would write a prequel to my prequel to sort of explain how/why Aang agrees to not talk about his grandchildren to anybody. He did it to protect Lin. Lin does not wanting the triads to find out about her having a vulnerability (a baby), and Lin is afraid the world will accuse her of "wasting" Tenzin's time for her own pleasure if she does not start having airbending babies immediately. Basically, the load of external pressures and internal notions of destiny and legacy are crippling both Lin and Tenzin with anxiety, fracturing their previously formidable bond with each other.**

 **P.S. There is also a rated M version. It is practically identical, but with added scenes.**

 ** **Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think if you have time to write something! :)))****


	2. Voices

Chapter 2: Voices

Even without work and having Tenzin, Uncle Aang, and Aunt Katara helping her with her five-month-old son, Lin felt like she never got a moment to rest. By now, she was fully adjusted to living on the island full time. It was so different from living in the city. She had more space compared to her small apartment downtown near the station, but she also had more chores. Instead of dropping her clothes at the cleaners on her way to work, Lin had to wash everything by hand herself. She helped Katara cook all of the family meals since there no restaurants or take-out/fast food options on her way home. And lastly, there was a little human being that demanded her attention for at least an hour every two hours for her to feed him. Tenzin could be trusted with changing their son's nappy, and with picking up toys, and with cleaning and burping after Lin finished feeding, yet still both Lin and Tenzin felt like there was some sort of imbalance.

Tenzin played music for the baby and told him stories about his childhood growing up with Lin, Kya, Bumi, Suyin, and Izumi. He told his son about all of the pranks that Bumi and Kya used to play on the various inhabitant's on the island, and occasionally the citizens of Republic City on the mainland.

"Tenzin, stop filling his head with their nonsense. What if he grows up unable to take anything seriously?" Lin asked Tenzin one evening as she set the table for dinner. The family of three and the two grandparents they lived with happily.

"Then he will know how to play games and be a child and be happy unlike you two," Aang jabbed with a smirk.

"Dad!" Tenzin yelled defensively.

Katara hid her laugh behind her napkin before regaining her composure and clearing her throat.

"We know how to play games!" Lin exclaimed holding her son to her breast.

"You know how to spar, really well," Aang corrected her.

"It's not like Kya and Bumi played games. They just played pranks!" Lin argued.

"And mean ones at that, " Tenzin added.

Katara laughed again.

"If you say so," Aang muttered with his tea already up to his lips while both Lin and Tenzin exhaled in unison.

Lin looked over at her partner then down at their son who was asleep in her lap. She was happy. While Kya and Bumi were the greatest nuisance she and Tenzin had ever known when they were younger, they were still rather fun. They presented a challenge and an opportunity. They were Tenzin's siblings, and practically Lin's considering how much time she spent on the island. They were challenging to deal with, and impossible to control, but every interaction was an opportunity to practice patience, love, loyalty, and sometimes, the ability to kick ass efficiently. That night, Lin decided. That night they would start trying again to give to their son, a little sibling, to love and defend, and to fight with occasionally. Yes, a sibling would be good for their baby.

"Tenzin," Lin said quietly that night as she turned down her side of the bed.

"Yes, Lin," Tenzin asked mirroring her motions.

"I think I am ready to start trying for another baby. I know it may not happen immediately; Katara says that breastfeeding interferes with fertility, but you never know when you might get lucky, and I want to go again," Lin said turning down her side of the bed.

"Lin, are you sure? So soon? What about returning to work?" Tenzin asked.

"The triads haven't done anything big in months. I am not needed right now. Besides, the world is bigger and more important than one city's police department. Hasn't our parents' goal and our goal always been the balance and peace of the _world_? We need an Air Nation," Lin told him as she climbed under the covers and rolled over to face him.

"I know," Tenzin said gently running his fingers through her wavy black hair. "I am sorry it has all fallen on you though."

"It's not a burden. It is an honor," Lin said lightly touching her lips to his for a short kiss. "It is more than an honor. It is a dream for me. I want this, not just for the world, but for me too."

"You really mean that?" Tenzin asked with one hand behind her neck. Lin tilted her head into it.

"Yes. Our son makes me so happy. Even when he is nothing but a sleeping little lump of life, he makes me happy."

"He makes me happy too. Just like you," Tenzin said reaching to pull her closer to him.

"Thank you for waiting for me," Lin whispered gratefully.

"I will always wait for you," Tenzin replied tenderly.

...

Just as they moved apart, their son in the other room started crying.

"You stay. I'll bring him to you," Tenzin insisted, leaping out of bed quickly, pulling on a pair of pants as he sprinted from the room.

Lin took their son in her arms and offered her breast to him. Making love with Tenzin and feeding their baby were two very different, yet equally satisfying actions that left Lin in a state of pure bliss that she never wanted to end.

* * *

The next day, Lin emerged from the main house with a basket of laundry to take to the washroom when Tenzin called her over.

"It has happened! He is mobile!" Tenzin announced beaming with excitement.

Lin looked down at the baby that Tenzin allowed to crawl around on the ground only after Lin's insisted that the young lad become acquainted to the earth. The baby was indeed mobile. He pushed himself forward rather clumsily with his big left toe while supporting part of his weight on his left hand. With his belly towards the ground he then sort of rolled over slightly to give his right limbs room to catch up again.

"Left-handed, just like his mama!" Tenzin exclaimed positively beaming with pride as he wrapped his arms around Lin's waist from behind resting his chin on her shoulder for an instant before kissing her cheek.

Lin raised a hand to hold his head still so she could turn and kiss his lips. She tilted her neck so he could be more comfortable on her.

"My Lady! Councilman Ryuuk is here to speak with you!" an air acolyte announced running up to them as quickly as possible.

"Ryuuk of the Northern Water Tribe?" Tenzin asked.

"Yes!" the air acolyte gasped.

"Take the baby!" Lin said quickly to Tenzin.

"Gina, could you take this to the wash room? I'll tend to it after I speak with Ryuuk!" Lin asked the air acolyte.

"Yes, Ma'am." The air acolyte said taking Lin's basket of laundry.

Lin watched Tenzin disappear inside the main house just in time for Ryuuk to arrive in the courtyard. Lin turned around with the same stone face she used when interrogating murderers in what felt like a lifetime ago.

"Councilman," Lin addressed the Northern Water Tribe Native.

"Chief, it has been over a year since we've seen you at a station. We were beginning to worry," Ryuuk said with a sly smile that only one who was plotting something bad would ever brandish to the world.

"Why? My leave of absence specifically listed no return date,

"Your leave of absence?" Ryuuk asked.

"The one you and your fellow councilmen unanimously approved. Must I remind you that it stated I would be gone indefinitely and slated my return only guaranteed in the event of a nation-wide emergency? The city is at peace, resting just like me. Triad activity has been at an all time low and I am of no use dealing with petty thieves and poor drivers wreaking occasional havoc on the streets," Lin reminded the man.

"Of course. I was just making sure. Until recently, you never took time off, even when ill. There were rumors that you never slept, only served your city,"

"Well, they say time changes all things, doesn't it?" Lin asked.

"I suppose so," Ryuuk sighed.

"Is that all you came here for, Councilman Ryuuk? To see that I am still breathing?" Lin asked impatiently.

"Yes, forgive me for the intrusion," Ryuuk said bowing low.

"I will forgive you, but I will not forget the uselessness of this meeting," Lin said, her eyes narrowing.

Just then, the door of the main house opening interrupted both of their trains of thought. "Is everything alright out here?" Avatar Aang asked emerging.

"Avatar Aang?!" Ryuuk exclaimed smoothing his robes hastily.

"Councilman! It is always a pleasure! To what do we owe this pleasant visit?" Aang asked as Lin masked her glare.

"I was actually just leaving. I simply wanted to check up on Lin." Ryuuk explained.

"She couldn't be better. Lin, dear, would you mind helping Aunt Katara in the kitchen? The arthritis in her wrist is acting up and she wanted so much to make Tenzin's favorite stew for his birthday!" Aang asked Lin, effectively providing her an escape from having to tolerate Ryuuk.

"Yes, Uncle," Lin said politely bowing to Aang before fleeing the courtyard for the kitchens.

Ryuuk watched very closely as she went.

"She seems, different," Ryuuk said suspiciously.

"She finally gets sleep now. The station has always been very demanding on its Chief. She simply burned out and needed time to recover her sense of being," Aang explained sympathetically.

"She is weak," Ryuuk said flatly.

"Hardly," aang replied. "She is the strongest woman I have ever seen."

"Even her ancient mother, Toph Beifong, never took breaks from the Force,"

"And her family and her city suffered from it. Not even the great Toph Beifong could bring the city to its heel as Lin has managed to do, allowing the Chief to take leave. I suggest you tread carefully around her, Councilman Ryuuk. It never does one well to make a Beifong Lady angry," Tenzin said.

"Is that a threat, Avatar?"

"No, it is simply a warning. It is an Avatar's duty to protect all of humanity. If that requires I warn you against attacking a dangerous and powerful lady, so be it."

* * *

The air was heavy with a dense rage that loomed over the group. Katara sat at the table with her only grandchild in her lap while his mother paced, fuming. Avatar Aang sat beside his wife with one hand on the table, picking his nail, waiting patiently for his daughter in law to cool down. Tenzin stood with his back pressed to the wall, not wanting to be in the path of his wife's fury.

 _ **Chief Beifong's harrowing leave of absence from the Republic City Police Force to indulge in selfish desires provides the perfect soil for the bending Triads to grow their influence resulting in a recent insurgence of organized crime! Incidents reach an all time high as the police department struggles to...**_

"Bullshit!" Lin yelled slamming the newspaper down on the kitchen table.

"Lin, honey, mind your son's young ears," Katara reminded her.

"I'm sorry, love. I'll try to be more mindful of my use of profanity," Lin said cupping her baby's mushy face in her hands, and touching her nose to his forehead.

"I never did like Ryuuk," Tenzin muttered with his arms folded angrily.

"Now, now, let's all just calm down," Aang said calmly.

"He called me lazy, weak, afraid of taking charge of my city and incapable of living up to my mother's legacy. What does he know of legacies? He's just some nameless peasant bastard born in the tundra who has no claim to anything other than the slander he prints on these spirit damned pages!"

"LIN!" Katara scolded.

"Don't listen to him. You are half his age and still have served the city extremely well for nearly twice as long as he's lived here. The time has come for a change. You serve the world now by just being with Tenzin," Aang said rising to put his hands on Lin's shoulders, effectively freezing her in place. Lin folded one arm acros her torso and perched the elbow of her other arm on it, resting her chin on her fist pensively.

"But I don't want to reture from the police force and give up what my mother spent her life building. There is still so much to be done," Lin finally said.

"You don't have to. When you are ready, the city will welcome you back with open arms regardless of one councilman's opinion on your most recent actions," Katara assured Lin.

"Lin, how about I return to work, to… keep the council in check?" Tenzin offered.

"If just one of us returns to work, then it will be obvious that we have a baby, ESPECIALLY if I am the one to stay home!" Lin argued.

"Then you can both return to work. The little badgermole won't ever be unattended with both Aang and I here to watch him!" Katara suggested.

"But I don't want to burden you with a baby especially after you've already suffered raising three," Lin replied.

"Lin, listen to me. Watching my grandson learn and grow and explore this expansive world we call home is no burden. It is an honor. You'll understand that too some day when you're ancient like me and your babies are stressing over babies of their own," Katara explained.

Lin thought very intensely for a moment considering all of her options. Finally, she relented. "Thank you, Aunt Katara," she said with a heavy sigh.

"And Lin," Katara added. "When you do return, please be careful. With you no longer drinking moon tea, you don't know when you may be surviving for two people instead of just you."

"I know, Aunt Katara," Lin said kneeling before the old waterbender. "And moon tea makes no difference in how I behave. I'm already living for more than just me," she said taking her son in her arms gently. Even though he was no longer inside her belly, he was a part of her and always would be.

* * *

Lin returned to the station full of energy and smiling. Her officers hadn't seen her in over a year and couldn't have been more grateful to have her back and be rid of the annoying, and rather inept deputy the Council had put in her place during her leave.

After analyzing the already collected evidence, Lin managed to halt the sudden uprising in organized crime and squash the three main Triads that were vying for control of Republic City's underbelly. With the use of well-planned and well-executed sting operations, the police department managed to capture a rather staggering number of regional leaders and mercenaries associated with the groups. The impact was enough to irreparably disrupt the hierarchy within the Terra Triad, Agni Kai Triad, and Triple Threat Triad.

But after all the action, Lin became bored again, and wanted nothing more than to return to her peaceful island life and watch her baby boy dig around in the dirt, blow spit bubbles and babble strings of incomprehensible sounds that he thought were words.

"Chief, the report is ready for your 10 AM presentation to the council," one of Lin's subordinates said offering her a folder containing the summary of that week's police activity for her to present and deliver to the council that Friday morning.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Ping," Lin said accepting the folder with a nod, and leaving the Police Headquarters for city hall that morning.

Her metal shoes tapped quietly with each step on the smooth, polished marble floors of that excessively lavish building. Her hair swayed as she walked towards the council chamber. Her chin tilted up with pride as she knew exactly where she was going. She practically grew up running the halls of the Police Station waiting for her mother, or running the halls of this very City hall waiting for Councilman Sokka to finish the day's proceedings. Now she was there, working.

As she passed a few groups of secretaries, scribes, reporters, and other support staff that called the City Hall Building their main office, she noticed many of them staring. What? Did she spill her tea on her uniform or something? She looked down. Nope, nothing…

"Her bust is larger."

"And her hips,"

"But her waist remains the same,"

"She must have had a child,"

"That would explain the length of time she spent away,"

"She is probably still feeding,"

"Liu Ling was right! Oh! Could you believe it?!"

Lin's smile faded, her chin dipped slightly, and for a fleeting instant, she considered turning around and marching right back to the police station. Her confidence washed away by something as frivolous as the whispers of a couple of empty-headed women heading out of City Hall for their lunch break.

A familiar scowl had affixed itself to the Police Chief's face by the time she entered the main Council Chamber.

"Chief Beifong! What a pleasure to see you after so long! You're looking positively radiant this morning," Councilman Ryuuk said enthusiastically with the most artificial grin one could muster painted on his wrinkling face.

Tenzin frowned at his remark and Lin's eyes narrowed impatiently.

"Cut the garbage, Ryuuk. Let's get this over with so I can leave. On Monday, the force recorded seven arrests, executed three successful sting operations, one undercover investigation in a sector of the Agni Kai Triad's ring, and one house visitation for an orphan recently taken off the streets… Of the seven arrests, were for public intoxication and indecency resulting in an overnight stay, two were for traffic violations and the accused were fined heavily and released that day, and the one remaining was charged with assault and arson and sentenced to fifteen years of manual labor for being a detriment to the peace of this city..." Lin said sternly recounting out the relevant activity of the police force that week. She answered the councilmembers' questions curt and concisely providing them with just enough detail to make sure they didn't need any more. The grueling meeting lasted two hours before everyone in the chamber was dismissed for lunch.

"LIN!" Tenzin called running after his lady.

"Have I ever mentioned to you just how much I hate diplomacy?" Lin asked Tenzin, turning to face him with the most irate expression he'd seen her don in over a year.

"Have I ever mentioned how much I miss seeing you all day?" Tenzin asked thinking of the light green and yellow robes she wore on the island that fit her perfectly, much better than the bulky uniform armor she wore in the city, as he placed his hands on her small waist somewhat possessively.

Lin's frown deepened as he kissed her cheek then she turned away. "Not when I'm in uniform, please. I can't have people thinking you're a weakness for me," she said shoving him gently.

"Lin, you may wear steel, but you're still not a machine. Loving someone is not a weakness. Besides, the city has known we have loved each other since we were preteens. It is nothing new."

"Still, I'd rather not feed the gossip generator in the City Hall Lobby," Lin replied stepping away from him.

"Did something happen?" Tenzin asked, concerned.

"Several of the secretaries were analyzing my body as I walked in this morning. They were talking about how my bust is bigger, probably from feeding and how my hips have changed after birthing. Any one who has had a baby can see the change, and my uniform, though bulky, hides none of it. I'm afraid," Lin answered.

"Don't worry. They will not hear any confirmation from you or me, and Mother and Father have both sworn to keep our little secret. You're safe," Tenzin reassured his lady, taking her to lunch before personally returning her to the police station so she could resume her responsibility as the city's formidable chief of police.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **If you're wondering why the baby has no name yet, don't worry. You'll find out why soon enough :). Don't forget to leave your thoughts in the reviews. I really do love hearing from all of you!**


	3. Gaoling

**Chapter 3: Gaoling**

The baby was strong, standing on his own two feet, with help of course from his father's hanging fingers. "We should bring him to the festival!" Tenzin suggested absentmindedly as his lady folded his clean robes and put them away in the dresser in the room they shared.

"No! Absolutely not!" Lin said firmly. "We agreed he'd remain hidden until he was strong enough to fight and defend himself from ALL potential threats!"

"All potential threats? Lin, he may never be ready! If you just let him face the world-"

"HE CAN'T EVEN WALK! HE IS EIGHT MONTHS OLD! HE CAN'T EVEN SEE YOU CLEARLY LET ALONE FACE THE WORLD! Are you INSANE, Tenzin?" Lin yelled.

"You're being paranoid. The people need hope," Tenzin went on quietly.

"Hope? What hope? He's just another earthbender..." Lin replied. The truth even hurt her heart a little.

"This isn't about him specifically," Tenzin said.

"Then what?" Lin demanded.

"If you two are going to fight, then leave your son out of it, please," Katara said appearing just in time to whisk her grandson away to safety.

"It's about you," Tenzin confessed.

Lin froze.

"I want to bring him to the festival to show the world that we're trying, that you're trying to save us and that we're not just wasting time-," Tenzin said pulling a newspaper out of his bedside table and showing it to her.

 ** _Chief Lin Beifong of Republic City Conspiring against the nearly extinct Air Nation by wasting the Last Airbender's Very Valuable Time_**

"Well I'm sorry you being with me was such a waste of time! I'm sorry you agree with them that my only purpose in life is to breed!" Lin yelled skimming the unfamiliar article quickly before pausing.

"Wait, why haven't I been seeing these?" she demanded looking up at the date on the paper.

"I.—I didn't want you to be hurt by the recent headlines, so I've been having the papers intercepted. I didn't want you to feel any pressure. I know how it bothers you to see—"

"SO YOU KEPT THE PAPER'S FROM ME? You must have intercepted my mail here AND at the station!"

"It was for your own sake, Lin, Honey!" Tenzin insisted.

"HOW DARE YOU TRY TO CENSOR THE WORLD FROM ME! You FOUL, EVIL, LYING, LITTLE, COCKROACH!" Lin yelled throwing plates and photo frames at him as he dodged some and blew others away.

"I thought you could wait for me, for HIM to be ready, but clearly, you're too easily swayed by the people of that WRETCHED city. I'm done here, and I'm taking MY son with me," Lin said marching past him.

He grabbed her wrist. "Lin! Wait!"

She turned and produced a concealed throwing knife, holding it tight against his pale throat.

"Why don't you wait for once, Tenzin," Lin replied. She yanked her hand free and removed the knife and went to fetch her travelling cloak her passport and her baby from Katara.

"I'm leaving!" she explained to the waterbender who sighed, and reluctantly handed over the child to his mother, understandingly.

Lin took the ferry wearing green and black robes with a heavy coat over everything covering her body and her baby. She took the city tramway straight to the international train station and went to board the first class car.

"Lady Lin Beifong Of Gaoling," she said showing the conductor her crisp, bright green, gold trimmed first class passport stepping up onto the train without any ticket needed.

"Ch— Chief?" the conductor stammered in disbelief.

"Call me that again or let anyone know I'm on this train and I'll personally spear your head on a pike and stick it in the ground along side the tracks of this train as a warning," Lin growled moving to take a seat near the front of the train car so that hardly anyone would see her in their passing.

The conductor gulped and proceeded to check everyone else's passports in the first class cabin.

The master earth and metalbender found her grandparents' house easily enough, considering she lived there for four years during the Yakone proceedings.

"Who goes there?"

"Lin Beifong, daughter of Toph and Granddaughter to Lao and Poppy, let me pass." Lin replied loudly and clearly.

"I am sorry, the master says no one is to be allowed in past sundown. Family or friend makes no difference," the guard said firmly.

"Then you leave me with no choice but to force entry," Lin replied as she bent the ground out from beneath the wooden gate, causing it and the archway above to sink a dozen feet into the ground.

The guards jumped off the wall and raised rocks at her. With one hand Lin shielded the baby tied across her chest and with the other she bent a myriad of jagged pillars and fissures to swallow some guards and launch others over the wall. One guard appeared behind her. She whipped around and sent a boulder at his face, throwing him back into the ground. She turned to face the gate again to find only the captain of the guards, not yet incapacitated. Her hood had fallen off revealing the infamous scars that marred her face and her cloak had slipped from her shoulders revealing the innocent baby tied to her waist.

The captain of the guard gasped. "You are with child."

Lin looked down. _Right._ She probably should have mentioned that before and avoided this little battle. _Oh well. It was nice to stretch a few limbs after such a long train ride anyways._

"Come in," he sighed waving her past the carnage of the wall and its guards.

"Lin, you should know a proper lady never shows up unannounced," Lao Beifong scolded his grand daughter from his seat atop the throne in his house while she kneeled before him, holding her baby.

"Forgive me, Grandfather. I had no time to send notice. I had to get out for myself and my son-"

He looked down at the baby with disapproving eyes.

"Is he another bastard like his mother?" Lao asked venomously. Lin blinked away tears of anger as she held him tighter.

No. He's legitimate and I AM married. Lin wanted to say, but couldn't. "I have a boyfriend,"

"Is he one of your prisoner's then?" Lao asked.

"No! He is a GREAT MAN! We just got into a disagreement!" Lin yelled at her grandfather with tears streaming down her face.

"If he is so great, then why have we not heard of him or our own great grandchild? You couldn't put this in a letter, Lin?"

"Because I am the Chief Of Police, and his father, is the Avatar's son, Tenzin. We—I was afraid the triads in Republic City would target in his infancy to get to us since he is so small and weak and vulnerable at this stage.

"So no one knows of him?" Lao asked.

"No one knows about him but us, his parents, my mom, and the White Lotus, until now," Lin confirmed.

"Why did you leave the City? Did the Avatar's son strike him or you or something?"

"No, it was nothing like that! Tenzin just wanted to reveal him at the gala after we had already agreed to keep him a secret, so I had to flee just in case he went through with his little plan to announce the existence of our baby."

"So you came here seeking shelter?"

"Yes, but not permanently."

"Then for how long?"

"A week."

"Is the baby an airbender?"

"No," Lin replied.

"It's a shame. Such a link would have helped the family greatly,"

Lin gritted her teeth with frustration. "I will NOT let you use MY son for your own selfish gains!"

"Dear grandchild, are not in Republic City. Here, family is everything. You of all people should understand the social game we are all obligated to play," Lao said. Lin closed her eyes and turned away while Lao shifted his attention to a maid. "Now, you, go prepare a room for my granddaughter and a nursery for my great grand son,"

"The latter won't be necessary," Lin interrupted.

"Pardon me?"

"My son STAYS BY ME, even when we sleep," Lin growled like a mama saber-moose-lion protecting her baby.

"Very well," Lao nodded. "Just the one room will do,"

The next morning, Lin woke up alone. She grabbed her silk robe and ran outside and across the courtyard to the main house bare feet and angry.

"Where is he?!" she demanded finding her grandmother eating with the baby in her lap.

"He woke up early; we didn't want to wake you. Besides, I've never held a baby before and must admit, I was rather curious,"

"What?!" Lin asked in disbelief.

"When Toph was born blind, the doctors showed her to me and offered to kill her for free. I declined their offer, but did consent to she being fed by wet nurses after her father told me the blind child would simply be a waste of my time,"

"Well that explains so many things," Lin muttered under her breath remembering her mother's utter refusal to engage in any physical form of affection..

"What was that?" Poppy asked.

"Nothing, may I please just have my son back?" Lin asked frustratedly.

"Yes, here he is," Poppy said handing the good-natured, little, bubble-blowing boy to Lin who held him tightly, listening peacefully his beautiful little heart beat.

The day after the festival happened in Republic City, a sky bison appeared over the Beifong Estate in Gaoling.

"A Master Tenzin of the Air Nation wishes to speak with your granddaughter," the servant said to Lao as he had lunch with his wife and granddaughter.

"Tenzin, the son of the Avatar?" Lao asked incredulously wanting to not believe for the longest time that his defiant young granddaughter would ever land a mate so… worthy of courting the Beifong name.

"Yes, sir," the servant said bowing and backing out of the room.

Lin sighed and rolled her eyes.

"What do you want, Tenz?" Lin asked bitterly shifting her son in her arms.

"Now, now, let us all calm down and hear what the man has to say," Lao said to Lin more than anybody.

"I wanted to say sorry to— Er..." Tenzin glanced at Lin. "My girlfriend for overstepping my bounds, censoring information from her and making stupid decisions regarding our child. Our son's existence will remain a secret until he is old enough to be able to defend himself from any potential threats in the world. And sir, Mister Beifong, if Lin will have me again, I've come to take her home." Tenzin said to the master of the house, while not taking his eyes off of his lady the entire time. "Please Lin, forgive me and come home. I have missed you sooooooo much." Tenzin begged.

Lin looked down at the small eight-month-old boy in her hands. A boy needed his father. She needed a father but never had one. She could not do the same disservice to him.

"But wait! Other than you honoring your promise to me regarding our son's safety, what else will you do if I come home?"

Tenzin bent down on one knee and opened a small box and pulled out a piece of jewelry, an obsidian pendant on a black satin ribbon, and presented it to his favorite person in the entire universe. "I will make you my wife, officially and love all of our children equally. I swear to you, complete loyalty. I will never hide information from you ever again. I will—,"

His promises were getting cheesy, she thought as she raised her free hand to silence her stupid, little airhead. "Alright, I'll come home," she said with a smile as Tenzin moved forward to tie the necklace around her neck. "The color will blend with your uniform perfectly. Nobody in the force or in the prisons needs to know about you, and me," he whispered as he kissed her cheek tenderly.

"I must say Lin, I am impressed. We didn't think you could land a respectable husband," Lao confessed.

"Thanks grandfather," Lin said sarcastically frowning at her rather infuriating grandfather.

* * *

 **I always imagine that Lin's interactions with Grandpappy Lao and Grandmammy Poppy would be rather... strained. Just read "You will be both" if you want to see more details on how I picture their rather toxic relationship to be. Lao kind of being controlling again, and hella passive aggressive with his comments, and Lin, enduring. Anyways, Lin and Tenzin are engaged now so all of their children will be legitimate and Lao can't call them bastards, like he sometimes called Lin whenever he was annoyed or angry with her.**


	4. Darkness

**Trigger Warning: Some depressing themes. (I wrote the M version first and I hope I censored out enough of the graphic descriptions of shit that happens when a woman gives birth and other dark things.) If you're a mother, you probably won't want to read this.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Darkness**

Lin was at work six months pregnant, barely showing her hard abdominal muscles resisted her expanding uterus resulting in a relatively unnoticeable bump that could pass for basic bloating. Unfortunately, this meant Lin's uterus pushed more on her bladder, stomach, lungs, and kidney, and really, everything else in her torso making breathing, and even standing up straight sometimes rather arduous activities.

Like the first time, she had told no one about the pregnancy, not wanting to give the gangs any notion of weakness or vulnerability. She did however appear much less on calls and on the streets.

She was just returning from the break room with a cup of tea when she felt a sharp pain piece her lower abdomen. Maybe it was just cramping. That was normal enough…

A second pain hit a few steps later.

Her office was close. Once inside, she could lock the door and remove her armor. Maybe it was pinching or something.

The third pain sent the chief to the floor on all fours, dropping and shattering her tea cup, spilling its contents on the floor.

"Chief!" the secretary seated at the desk beside her gasped jumping up.

"Call Councilman Tenzin! Bring him here now!" Lin ordered.

"CHIEF!"

"Tell him to bring Oogi!" Lin added.

"But chief!"

"NOW!" Lin yelled bringing herself to one knee, snapping a cable at the secretary's desk, cutting it cleanly in half to emphasize the urgency.

* * *

"What is it?" Tenzin asked once they were en route to Air Temple Island.

"I don't know—" Lin gasped through the pain.

"The baby—,"

"Tenzin, I SAID I DON'T KNOW!" Lin yelled holding back sobs as she felt the tiny heart in her lower body beating rapidly under as much stress as she. It too was fighting to stay alive.

"Mom! Help! It is Lin! She's—I don't know what is happening! The station called and said I had to come immediately and-,"

"The baby is coming!" Lin said finally.

"It is too soon!" Katara said ushering Lin and Tenzin into the delivery room.

"I know," Lin whispered faintly.

Tenzin unsnapped the clasps of his lady's armor and pulled it away.

Tenzin's face paled in panic when he pulled down her waistband. Lin's water had broken.

"TENZIN! Just get her pants off and get out! Go find your father and tell him that the baby is coming!" Katara ordered bringing her son back to his senses.

Lin was crying and panting through the contractions.

"Calm down, sweetie! Everything is going to be okay… Shhhhh… You need to get a hold of your breathing if we are going to do this safely," Katara said swirling healing water around Lin's head and belly.

Tenzin left the room and closed the door slowly.

"Aunt Katara," Lin whimpered. "I can feel her heart fading …"

"I know, Lin but we are going to do everything we can to save her," Katara replied.

"Tenzin will be so angry with me if I lose her!" Lin whimpered weakly.

"He won't, Linny. This isn't your fault! Maybe her spirit just wasn't ready to join us in the material world. Give her a chance and she can teach you SO many things,"

"Aunt Katara… I am afraid!"

"Don't be," Katara replied.

Lin's words ripped through Tenzin's heart. He had explained to her numerous times how it didn't matter if they had an earthbender or an airbender. He never thought he would need to say it didn't matter to him if their child lived or died. Well, it DID matter—but he understood she did everything to keep the baby safe. Katara was right. Maybe the child's spirit wasn't just ready. Maybe Lin's body just wasn't ready

Tenzin told her he would wait he could as long as they needed. Lin didn't need to rush into trying again, but wanted to, for him. Everything she did was for him. He just wanted her to be happy, but she also only wanted to make him happy. It was a vicious cycle indeed.

Tenzin ran to find his father meditating in the gazebo with his ten month old grandson asleep in his lap.

"The new baby is coming early," Tenzin announced breathlessly.

"I know," Avatar Aang replied perfectly at ease with his eyes still closed softly. "I felt the bison land and then your hurried feet disappear into the main house a while ago. How are you feeling?"

"Afraid." Tenzin confessed.

"Naturally. Being born three months early will not be easy for the babe. The child's lungs are not yet developed. Its heart is weak, its brain tiny, and its eyes incomplete… but it is not just that that's bothering you. I can feel it in your energy."

"Lin thinks I will be disappointed in her if she loses the baby," Tenzin added.

"Lin has her own reasons for insecurity. I think it's her way of expressing this fear that she's let the world down. She too must learn to detach herself from those fears. I will talk to her when I see she is ready, after this whole ordeal is over," Aang promised his son.

"Thank you, Father, for everything," Tenzin said sitting down beside Aang, putting his hand on ten-month-old son's belly. The baby wrapped his little hand around Tenzin's finger. His grip was strong and sturdy.

Tenzin smiled looking down at his son lovingly.

"Where is she, Twinkle Toes? I can't see into all of these wooden structures of yours," a gruff, familiar voice asked the Avatar.

"Aunt Toph?" Tenzin asked turning around with shock.

"The birthing room in the main house. It is the same one you used thirty one years ago to bring Little Linny into the world," Aang answered, still with his eyes closed.

"It is the fifth door from the main entrance, on the left," Tenzin added.

"Thanks Junior Airhead, Aang," Toph said nodding before heading towards the main house.

"I don't understand. Toph has been gone for nine years. NOBODY has seen her. Even Lin said they never communicate. How did she know Lin was having the baby early?" Tenzin asked.

"Toph has her own way of seeing everything. You'll understand when you're older, and can feel everything," Aang replied still unmoving.

* * *

The baby was so tiny. Her first breath was a sneeze. Katara wouldn't slap her baby's bottom because she was so delicate and fragile. Her skin was so thin that you could see all of her little organs fighting for life.

"Tenzin," Lin reached out with tears in her eyes as if she were holding a corpse already.

"I'm here," Tenzin said grabbing her arm, interlacing their limbs so he could hold her shoulder and set their son down between them.

"She cannot even suck. If she doesn't starve from lung or heart complications, she will die from starvation," Lin said with a stone cold face.

"Oh don't be so pessimistic, Linny!" Toph grumbled sitting in a chair against the far wall with her feet kicked up on the railing at the foot of the bed.

Just then the tiny creature sneezed violently and Lin's heart skipped a beat.

"Take her!" Lin said pushing the tiny bundle into Tenzin's arms. His heart broke looking down at the baby with webbed feet and fingers, still unable to see, hear, or breathe normally.

"Ma—ba—ma—ba—pa-," their ten-month-old babbled reaching for Lin. Lin didn't respond. Dark thoughts clouded her consciousness, as she could not stop thinking about the death that awaited her newborn baby. Toph took initiative and scooped up the ten-month-old into her lap, distracting her with a couple of floating rocks in her hand so that he would cease his childish babbling.

The premie sneezed again frightening Tenzin too.

Katara lifted up a small bit of water over the premature baby's tiny head. "Now she has a fever," Katara announced, healing the burst blood vessels and calming the fever slightly.

"How long will she last?" Lin asked.

"A week maybe," Katara replied. "At most…"

Every time the premature baby sneezed, she bruised herself internally.

"Katara! What are you—Lin gasped holding her chest as Katara waterbent milk right out of her breasts.

"We simply cannot just give up on her! Even if she is going to die, at least give her the chance to live before she goes, Linny," Katara said feeding the child with her waterbending.

Lin thought for a moment. The clouds cleared up slightly, but were still there, distorting everything. She reached for the new baby.

The baby took a few labored breaths and fell still again for a few moments. Lin felt the baby's heart still beating though. Still fighting…

After Lin and the new baby were completely cleaned up, they were moved into Lin and Tenzin's bedroom.

* * *

"You need to eat too," Tenzin said bringing Lin a bowl of soup. The Police Chief hadn't moved from her chair by the window in two whole days.

"Thank you," Lin said faintly accepting the bowl, letting Tenzin take the frail little girl from her lap for a few moments.

"Our son is confused. He doesn't understand what is happening to you,"

"He is young. He will forget soon."

"He won't, Lin. He needs you too. You need to go to him," Tenzin stressed.

"Fine, I'll go to him… after I eat," Lin replied lifting the soup to her lips, and draining the bowl, with her eyes unmoving, unblinking, still clouded with darkness as she considered possible ways to put herself and her daughter out of their shared misery.

* * *

Lin found her son playing with his grandparents, all three of them. He was chasing a pebble that Toph and Aang were flicking back and forth. Sometimes Katara would steal the pebble away with a tiny stream of water, confusing the boy greatly.

"Hey," Lin said weakly approaching the family.

"LIN! How kind of you to join us!" Katara exclaimed beaming with relief.

"How are you feeling?" Aang asked compassionately.

"Evidently better than I felt an hour ago," Lin answered weakly. May I have him?" Lin asked looking down at her son. He looked up at her with his brilliantly green eyes wide with concern.

"He's your kid, kid. Do what you want with him," Toph said dropping the pebbles, sitting back on her hands.

"Thanks, Mom," Lin said picking up her first-born baby and walking outside. The little boy clutched onto the collar of Lin's robes with one tiny fist, and draped the other over her left shoulder.

She felt his warmth, his soft, smooth skin under her hand, his strong, little heart beating normally and his small lungs breathing with such strength. He was a light that chased all of the clouds away. Lin squeezed him and kissed his little cheek and then looked out on the city-scape. "How have you been, my hero?" Lin asked the baby with a smile on her face.

He reached up and touched the scar on the side of her face.

"Don't worry about that. She isn't here to hurt any of us now," Lin said stroking her son's perfectly flawless and pudgy cheeks. "And I won't let any sibling do that to you. I'll make sure it never gets that bad. I'll make sure to love you. I'll make sure you know how to love your sister and I'll make sure she knows how to love you and finally, I will make sure you will want to protect each other. But until then, I promise I will stay, to protect you." Lin swore, pushing all thoughts of 'escape' from her mind.

* * *

The week of agony turned into a month, and that first month turned into a second and the little girl lived. With Katara feeding her with Lin's milk, and Lin holding her every day she lived.

"The girl's heart is more persistent than the eternal flame in the Sun Warrior's civilization, I knew it! She will be strong!" Toph said on the first day of the baby girl's third month of life. "She will be an earthbender too, I expect. And the greatest earthbender the world has seen! She will be the one to take my place, Linny" Toph predicted punching Lin on the shoulder as she carried her baby girl over to get her diaper changed.

"Careful when she's in my arms, please mother," Lin said with a smile on her face.

"Let's not get our hopes up. The girl is still weak," Katara warmed.

"Oh come on! When did the Sugar Queen become so fucking pessimistic?!" Toph exclaimed.

"Mother!" Lin scolded. "The children!"

"It's not like the badgermole speaks yet!"

"Still!" Lin exclaimed.

"Alright. So Linny, have you and Junior come up with a name yet for the little girly?"

"No, but we have come up with a name for our son, Hunjian…" Lin replied.

"Courageous hero, I like it!" Katara exclaimed hugging Lin and kissing her on the cheek while Toph remained seated at the kitchen table with her filthy feet up. "What made you choose that name?"

"I chose it because Hungjian both me and new baby from leaving, permanently," Lin said gravely.

"Awww... Lin!" Katara cried hugging Lin and the baby.

"But the GIRL!" Toph asked again.

"Not yet. We didn't know if she was going to live so..." Lin began to say.

"Well, I KNOW her spirit is here to stay. And she's got that Beifong spite already!" Toph yelled making Lin laugh.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Katara asked turning to Toph

"It means she gets great joy out of proving the Sugar Queen wrong about something!" Toph exclaimed.

Katara snorted. "Ha ha, very funny. Lin, see if she can suck now. She should be developed enough."

Lin lifted her little girl to her breast. Instinctively, the three-month-old's tiny lips enclosed Lin's nipple and started sucking.

Lin cried tears of joy, then. Her daughter girl would live. She would live. They were both healthy.

* * *

 **I checked. Yes, at six months of pregnancy the baby still has translucent skin. The article I looked at didn't have pictures so I couldn't verify if it would still have webbed feet and fingers and am too tired to cross-reference at the moment. I hope this chapter wasn't too depressing. There will be light, but then again, this story is still called "Cracks in the Foundation" (which are never really a good thing). I hope you enjoy the series that is:**

 **Cracks in the Foundation (~150AG-~158AG) [in progress]**

 **In Isolation (~158AG-174AG) [in progress]**

 **Lives Forgotten 174AG [complete]**

 **Earth and Air (174AG-Onward) [in progress]**

 **BTW, don't forget to leave a review if you have time or would like to see certain things in this story! All feedback is greatly appreciated.**


	5. Lethal

**Chapter 5: Lethal**

After three grueling months, Toph was finally getting out of Lin's Hair. "Next time I come over, that little girl BETTER HAVE A NAME!" Toph yelled as she boarded the train headed south.

"Yes mother," Lin replied tersely seeing her off before returning to the Police Station with Tenzin.

"I suppose we should start thinking of names for her," Lin said that night laying beside Tenzin after he returned home from work.

"I don't know. I've gotten kind of used to Baby No. 2," Tenzin replied caressing her unmarred cheek as he gazed into her beautifully emerald green eyes.

"Tenzin," Lin pouted. "I call my prisoners by their number. I cannot possibly continue to treat my only daughter the same way!"

Tenzin laughed pulling her closer to him by her waist. "I was only joking," he replied softly pecking her sweet pink lips.

"So what were you thinking, for names?" Lin asked gazing into his blue-grey eyes.

"I was thinking something like... Chin Bai maybe..."

"Golden place of purity?" Lin asked with a furrowed brow.

"Fang He?" Tenzin then offered making note of her disapproval of the first name.

"Pleasant smelling lotus flower? Tenzin, you know how much I hate the White Lotus right now," Lin reminded the love of her life.

"Fang han?"

"Pleasant smelling country? That is just silly to me," Lin said with a soft smile.

"Well then, what do you want to name our littlest baby?" Tenzin asked.

"I was thinking..." Lin said with her finger pointed at her chin as she paused.

Just then their thoughts were disrupted by a massive quake.

"What the-" both Lin and Tenzin leapt out of bed in their pajamas. Tenzin was wearing orange-yellow striped pants and Lin was wearing green shorts and a white tank top. Then they heard crying from their daughter's nursery.

"Baby No. 2!"

Lin made it there first followed closely by Tenzin who nearly crashed into her when she stopped suddenly in the doorway.

"What-" Tenzin asked grabbing onto her arms to balance himself. When he looked up, he saw why she froze. A man sat on the window sill with one leg already out the other end, their child in the crook in his arm, with a knife to her head.

Tenzin didn't need to be an earthbender to feel his love's heart beating through her chest. He didn't need to see her face to imagine her fear. He knew.

"Wrap her in white so no one will recognize her orange and red clothing!" the man whispered to an accomplice.

"No!" Lin screamed lunging forward. The man pulled the child back from his accomplice and moved the knife closer to the child's head.

"Careful Beifong, you wouldn't want to hurt this pretty little thing!" the man taunted touching the knife to the child's pink skin.

Lin fell to her knees. "Speak your demands!" she yelled desperately. She could do nothing. She nor Tenzin. One move and they would kill the baby, or drop her in their attempt to flee. She was so small, so delicate and fragile after three months of fighting a fever without a fully developed anything. She was sooooo fragile.

"We don't have any demands. We just wanted a girl, a young earthbender for our ranks. Fortunately this one's cute. She will make a good messenger. The targets will trust her," the man said smoothly. "It is a shame you will never see her again," the man said turning the blade away from the child's face to touch her squishy little cheek with his fat, coarse, and hairy index finger. The baby turned and bit his finger with her gummy little mouth.

"WHA?!" he yelped. Before he could yank his finger out and dislocate the infant's jaw, a narrow jut of earth speared through the wooden wall and floor impaling the man, killing him instantly, causing him to drop the baby. Lin couldn't move. Tenzin swept the child up in a wind current right into Lin's arms, saving her from the fall, then took off through the window after the man's accomplices.

"What happened?!" Katara asked appearing with Hungjian in her arms, and Aang at her heel.

Lin just knelt frozen on the ground, clutching her crying daughter, and shaking with trauma. Her glassy eyes stared forward, avoiding the sight of the baby's face and clothes splattered with blood.

Katara and Aang looked where Lin was looking, and covered Hungjian's face.

Aang put a hand on Lin's shoulder and turned her away from the scene. Attention broken from the sight of the body, Lin bent over further and began to cry with her baby, holding onto her for dear life while Aang knelt beside her and rubbed circles on her back.

* * *

Tenzin stood over the two attempted kidnappers where they were both tied to a tree by the White Lotus. "WHO SENT YOU?!" Tenzin demanded.

"Persephone Ranok! She wanted to know if the chief had a daughter! We weren't going to originally take the baby, but when started crying, the leader worried the baby would wake the house so told us to get it out before anybody came but-"

"YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD SNEAK INTO THE HOUSE OF THE AVATAR, THE CHIEF OF POLICE, THE GREATEST WATERBENDING MASTER IN THE WORLD, AND ME, TO PEEK AT A BABY, AND THOUGHT YOU WOULD GET AWAY UNSCATHED?!" Tenzin yelled.

"Son, Lin needs you right now," Aang said placing a silencing hand on Tenzin's shoulder, sending him back inside.

* * *

When Tenzin came in, he saw Lin at the kitchen table with their daughter in her lap, and Hungjian sitting on the edge of the table beside her, Katara moving water around her head to ease the pain of that evening.

"Lin," Tenzin said softly picking Hungjian up off the table, pulling up a chair, and taking a seat beside his lady.

Katara pulled the healing water away.

Lin took a deep breath and leaned over on his shoulder. "This is exactly what I was afraid of. I thought with hard work and persistence, dreams would come true. I didn't think the nightmares would too," Lin whispered in Tenzin's ear as Hungjian picked at his father's few chest hairs.

"I'm sorry,"

"Don't be. This wasn't your fault. Its mine,"

"How could it be your fault? Ranok's wife, the mother of whispers just wanted a story on you-"

"And I should have seen it coming. Ever since I returned to work, they have been suspecting as much. I didn't lose all the weight immediately. I heard the secretaries talking about the size of my hips and breasts," Lin said.

"Nobody loses the weight immediately. Don't be so hard on yourself!"

"But I didn't even try!" Lin replied.

"You shouldn't have to-"

"If we're going to hide them until they're old enough to protect themselves, I must, Tenzin. You have to understand! As much influence we have, and as much as we want to and can change the world, we can't stop people from gossiping." Lin insisted looking down at the new baby sleeping soundly in her lap. "I think I have a name for her,"

"What?" Tenzin asked.

"Huifan," Lin replied. "She is already clever enough to bite the man's finger, to distract him since she can't do any real damage, and lethal. Even in infancy, willing to kill if necessary," Lin said gazing down at her baby.

"I hope she never has to again," Tenzin sighed looking down at their daughter with unease.

"I do too," Lin sighed.

However much it hurt, they predicted that night would not be the last time the small, but beautiful and strong girl would have to kill for her right to live her her life.


	6. Bleeding

**Cracks 6: Bleeding**

"Hahahahaha! Got you, Dad!" Hungjian said bending a pebble at his father. Tenzin fell to the ground with a soft thud as his son jumped on top of him and cackled with laughter. Huifan ran over from where she sat beside her mother and jumped on him too.

"That's the third time today, Daddy!" Hungjian exclaimed in victory throwing his hands up in the air with victory accidentally hitting Huifan in the face.

Lin gasped and held her breath. Tenzin was closer to the children. Huifan looked more stunned than actually hurt as blood began to flow from her tiny nose. She touched the throbbing place on her face and looked at the red on her hand, then turned to her brother.

"I'm sorry!" Hungjian said on the verge of tears reaching for his little sister.

Huifan looked at her hand again and then balled it into a fist and punched her older brother in the face with as much strength as the thirteen-month-old could muster.

"Ow! DADDY! I SAID I WAS SORRY! WHY'D SHE DO THAT?" Hungjian cried as Tenzin picked them each up by their waistbands and separated them.

"Huifan!" Tenzin began in a reprimanding tone.

Huifan looked up at Tenzin with the most quizzical expression on her face. She shook her head and motioned at Hungjian and then to herself and then pressed her own palms together.

"Huifan, you need to know that—" Tenzin began to say again.

"Bu- Ba ba! Mi-wa!" Huiifan replies.

"I don't know what mi-wa is, Huifan. You must also understand it has been quite a while since your mom or I spoke baby," Tenzin reminded the little girl.

"Buh- Ba-Ba!" Huifan yelled. "Hun-jian e Hui-fan miwa!" She said pressing her hands together on the verge of tears.

"Huifan, I can't—"

"Papa! I think I get it!" Hungjian exclaimed suddenly. "I think miwa is mirror! She says now we match. I think she thought it was part of the game!" Hungjian suggested.

Huifan nodded. "Mirraw?"

Tenzin looked at her, "so you punched your brother back so that you could match?" Tenzin asked his daughter. She nodded with blood still pouring from her tiny nose, letting it fall onto her clothes, completely unfazed.

Tenzin sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Lin, a little help here,"

"Come over here, you two," Lin said opening her arms and spreading her legs so each of her children could climb up and sit on one thigh. They did.

"Even if someone hits you first, if it is an accident and they didn't mean to, you do NOT hit them back, ESPECIALLY if they say sorry, alright?" Lin said.

"Buh- Ma- hit Ba Ba a lot," Huifan replied innocently. "Even Ba say sowy."

Tenzin shot a glance at Tenzin. This girl was definitely living up to her name, she was such a clever little thing.

"But I don't make this red stuff spew from his body," Lin added pulling out a handkerchief, dabbing at the girl's bloodied noses and showing them the red.

Both children slumped a little before nodding with understanding.

Then Huifan looked up again with a puzzled frown on her face. "Mama why you no ret now?"

"Sorry?" Lin asked.

Huifan threw her hands up with frustration and flipped her side swept bangs back.

"She asks why you are not red now?" Hungjian translated.

"Why would she ask such a thing?" Lin asked.

Huifan turned and flicked her wrist making a somewhat jagged toilet looking form come out of the earth and then a small waste bin beside it and then flicked a lump of rock out of the earth and into the waste bin.

"What?" Lin asked a little taken aback by such a strange question coming from someone so young.

"Is she asking why you're not tossing red napkins in the trash bin anymore..." Tenzin asked. "Is she asking why you're not... bleeding?"

Lin turned to her daughter. "Why were you even looking in the trash bin?"

Huifan shrugged looking at Lin's stomach.

"Ma ma, eat baby?" Huifan old asked putting a hand on her mother's lower abdomen with a rather curious and somewhat frustrated expression.

Lin gasped. She tuned into her seismic sense and located every heartbeat on the island. Her daughter, her son, her husband, her own, and... she looked up at Tenzin with shock and realization.

"Lin, you're pregnant again?" Tenzin asked.

"Apparently. And our youngest child was the first to know," Lin sighed Pulling both children closer to her body to hold them.

"Daddy, what does pregnant mean?" Hungjian asked.

"It means you will both gain a new baby brother or sister."

"Each?" Hungjian asked with glee.

"No, just one to share," Lin said. "Hopefully," she added hoping to never get twins.

"Awe!" Hungjian slumped.

"Come on, you two. Do you want to spar again?" Tenzin asked trying to distract them from the topic of new baby.

"Sure!" Hungjian said sliding off his mother's knee.

"I stay by Ma," Huifan said with one tiny hand on her mother's stomach, now pressing her ear to it too. It was mesmerizing to her.

"Spirits!" Lin cursed to herself looking over st the earthen toilet and trash bin and at her daughter already hearing heartbeats and noticing trends in people's behaviors. She's clever and very powerful already.

"Jian, is there a reason you earthbent a toilet in the middle of the courtyard?" Grandpa Aang asked passing by knowing his daughter-in-law would never do such a silly thing.

"No, I didn't do it! Fa-ni did!" Hungjian replied throwing a tiny pebble his father's way.

"Fa-" Aang turned to Lin sitting on the step. She was leaning back, relaxed, propped up on her hands with Huifan laying on her with her tiny ear pressed to her abdomen.

Aang smiled. "She's powerful."

"And, she deduced that I'm pregnant again," Lin said biting her lower lip nervously.

Aang's face lit up. "You're joking!"

"Hold the groceries!" Katara ordered her husband, thrusting the bags into his arms, uncapping her water skin before rushing over to Lin. Huifan bolted upright again and watched with a jealous scowl as the water took her place on her mother's stomach.

"Honey, this is wonderful news!" Katara said happily.

"How far along is she?" Tenzin asked walking over with Hungjian again.

"Already seven months," Katara said with surprise.

"How could I have not noticed? Why didn't I grow so much like before?" Lin asked.

"Maybe it's the exercise. You trying to keep your weight down to disguise your shape after the first two babies may have altered the way your body grows now." Katara suggested.

"Is the baby healthy? I hope I didn't stunt its growth too much. Should I eat more?"

"Your baby is perfectly healthy, but it won't do it any harm to eat more. Your body needs the surplus nutrients,"

"Thank you, Katara," Lin said.

"Mama pregnant is a good thing, right?" Hungjian asked.

"Yes. It's a good thing."

"We should have a party!"

The family laughed.

"Hungjian, why don't you come help me with dinner. You can stir the stew!" Katara asked the boy.

"Yay!" He yelled flying after his grandmother.

"What's going through your mind?" Aang asked sitting beside his son and his daughter in law and his second grandchild.

"So many things," Lin said stroking her daughter's cheek subconsciously as the child lay with closed eyes listening to the fetus heartbeat in her mother's belly.

"You can tell us, we have time," Aang said.

"My daughter can already earthbend what she's seen with a flick of her hand and she's not even two yet and we haven't even started training,"

"She's powerful-"

"And she noticed I hadn't been throwing red napkins in the waste bin for a while,"

"Smart-"

"And she thought that if Hungjian punched her in the face, the proper response was to punch him back just so that they could match," Lin added.

Aang laughed. "That must be the Beifong coming through." He said warmly draping an arm over Lin's shoulder.

"Ha... ha..." Lin replied unamused. And now we have a new baby coming,"

"Are you afraid?"

"What if he's not healthy- I didn't know— what if he comes early? What if he—"

"He's already been in you longer than this little girly," Aang said tapping Huifan on the nose. She growled at him and raised her arm around her mother's torso.

MY MOMMY'S BELLY! DON'T COME CLOSER. ILL BITE! her expression screamed.

Aang laughed. "There's only one thing you know for certain that your baby will be."

"And what is that?" Tenzin asked.

"Wonderful! Truly wonderful," Aang said with a smile.


	7. Funeral

**Trigger Warning: Major Character Death(But it occurs 'off-screen')**

* * *

"Tunneling," Lin began to tell her three little badgermoles. "It is one of an earthbender's most useful skills because he or she can disappear from sight instantly, like so!" Lin lifted her arms up and clapped them together and sunk into the ground, closing the hole immediately after.

"Woah!" the children looked around with shock.

"And then you can reappear somewhere unexpected," Lin said standing behind them. "We will start by tunneling horizontally," Lin said. She sand bent a massive block of earth out of the ground. She walked up.

"With a front punch, I want you all to make an indent in the block about a foot deep. Start of slow and easy. One punch. One step. Eventually, with good practice and greater range, you could get all the way through with one motion," Lin pushed with two hands and tunneled straight through fifty meters of earth exposing light at the other end of the Earthen slab.

"Woah!"

"First one to the other end doesn't have to help me with dishes this evening," Lin said bending a chair for herself to watch her babies.

"How's it coming?" Tenzin asked bringing Lin a cool glass of watermelon juice.

"Well enough I guess. They're learning quickly," Lin replied.

Hungjian punched quickly, making a little bowl shaped crop out of the stone along with a bunch of sand.

"Slow down! Focus, stupid and do it correctly or you'll never get through," Huifan yelled at him copying Lin's form perfectly creating a clean one foot deep punch out of the earth. While the two older children were preoccupied, Jinkun took a deep breath and moved a hand and a foot and managed to get five feet in with one punch to the thing. Tenzin glanced down at Lin who raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Let them figure out their own style of earthbending.

The next day, Lin and Tenzin decided to demonstrate extreme tunneling.

"Now, personally, I despise water because in it, I can't see with my feet or my eyes since the salt stings. Your father on the other hand loves water. He is half water tribe after all and finds great comfort in the sea as well as the air. So, he will dive into the water while I'll dive into the ground."

"But Mom. Isn't the ground hard? Won't you get hurt?"

"Yes the ground is hard, but I am a master earthbender. It's like falling into a feather bed to me, watch closely." Lin said as she launched herself onto Oogi who was waiting with Tenzin on his head.

They flew fifty feet up. Over the water, Tenzin dove in wearing only his swim trunks. Then over the earth, Lin jumped hands and headfirst plummeting towards the ground. She created a crater and a wave in the sand for effect and tunneled straight down at least twenty feet before stopping her trajectory and bending space for her to move around. Like a badgermole she dig herself out to find her three children looking down at her with pure admiration. Tenzin trudged out of the ocean dripping wet and smiling.

"So, hopefully by the end of today, you can fall down and not get hurt by your best friend, Earth," Lin said with her arms folded on the edge of her hole and her chin resting on the backs of her hands. Just then a White Lotus member appeared accompanied by an air acolyte.

"Master Tenzin, Lady Lin, we regret to inform you, but Avatar Aang has officially passed away this morning,"

Lin and Tenzin's faces both fell. Their children were present and for that, they were angry with the White Lotus sentry for not pulling them aside at least to grief.

"Daddy, what does that mean?" Hungjian asked.

Tenzin got down on one knee and took both of Hungjian's hands. Struggling to hold back his sobs in front of his children. "It means grandpa has gone to take a nap," Tenzin started before his vice broke down.

"And he won't wake up again," Lin finished for him, pushing her self out of the ground and, pulling her nearest child into her arms and squeezing him.

"But I thought naps were a good thing. When we take naps, our brain solidifies our memories and lessons from the first half of the day. At least, that's what Air Acolyte Tysha told me." Huifan said still looking thoroughly bewildered.

"Have you informed my brother and sister?" Tenzin asked the White Lotus Sentry.

"Yes sir, we sent sentries as soon as the event occurred," the White Lotus replied.

"Where are they holding the funeral?"

"There will be a state ceremony in Republic City and then a more private ceremony for family and friends at the Southern Air Temple, after, Master Tenzin," the man said.

Lin went to the Southern Air Temple with their three children while Tenzin went to Republic City.

* * *

The morning Aang's body arrived with Katara, they had a family ceremony. Bumi, Kya and Tenzin were dressed all in white then Katara summoned Lin and the children.

"You can always count on blood, Linny. Kya and Bumi will understand. I promise you," Katara said offering Lin a white hood to indicate her as a daughter in-law even though she and Tenzin didn't ever announce their marriage even to Tenzin's siblings. Katara tied a white piece of fabric around Hungjian's head while Lin did the same to Huifan and Jinkun's.

Lin carried the two year old while Huifan walked holding her hand and Hungjian walked holding Katara's as they entered the main temple

Lin started crying almost immediately as they approached the open casket.

"Lin!" Kya breathed. Rushing over taking Jinkun from Lin's arms, not the least bit surprised to find she had two nephews and a niece.

"Is this everybody, Master Katara?" the ancient Air Acolyte asked.

"Yes, you may begin the ceremony," Katara replied solemnly.

Lin knelt beside Tenzin and their three children knelt behind them. The children were good, copying their parents exactly. Kya and Bumi couldn't believe their patience but then remembered they _were_ Lin's babies.

"Will the eldest grandson please rise?" a monk asked.

"Hungjian," Lin called in a whisper. The five year old waddled up to the monk and listened carefully as the monk placed a tray of fruit into his tiny hands. He invited his grandfather to eat with them and then rest and go in peace. He bowed the right number of times for the right number of seconds. He placed the incense in the pit of ashes correctly, and he listened carefully.

Then he was sent back to his place behind his parents and they moved on with the ceremony next with a part executed by the eldest son. Then they each went by one by one to pay their respects for the now deceased grandfather.

"Thank you, Lin for everything." Katara said putting a hand on Lin's shoulder. Tenzin draped an arm around her waist and held her while she broke down in sobs.

"Hi! I'm your Aunt Kya. What are your names?" Kya asked the children with a brave smile on her face, determined to distract them from their mother's grief.

"I'm Huifan and these are my brothers. Jin and Jiang," HuiFan replied surprisingly eloquent for a four year old.

"Hungjian," the eldest waved.

"Jinkun," the younger mumbled impatiently.

"How would you like to come explore the temple with me and Uncle Bumi?"

"We would love to, but Mama says not to go with strangers," Huifan informed her aunty.

"Huifan, Aunt Kya isn't a stranger. She's family. She is blood. You can trust her with anything," Katara said.

"Well, if Gran Gran says It is okay, I guess we can go," Huifan shrugged. Kya smiled and extended a hand to two of them while Bumi took the third.

"I've failed Aang. He had so much faith in me that I could help rebuild his nation and I couldn't." Lin cried.

"Don't say that! We still have time!" Tenzin replied.

"We already have three children and none of them are air benders!"

"We can have more-"

"Tenzin, it is not that easy. Do you know what having children does to the human body? Have you any idea what it has done to me? Huifan nearly killed me when she was born. It's too much!"

"Are you saying you want to stop? To just give up on me? On my nation?"

"No, Tenzin. I just need time to think. Aang died just a week ago! He was your father and the closest thing I had to a father— the closest thing I had to a parent. My own mother abandoned me every time I asked a question. It is just too early to do anything!"

"You're right. I'm sorry for pushing."

"Ma'am the guests will be entering soon," the monk said.

"I'll go relieve Kya and Bumi of babysitting duties," Lin said hurrying away, pulling off her white hood, hiding she was a daughter-in-law.

* * *

"Mama!" The three children ran over and hugged her shins. They were so small. She remembered giving birth to all of them. All of the pressure and pain. All the hope they'd bend air and all of the fear that Tenzin would leave if they didn't.

"Aunt Kya is a waterbender!" Hungjian exclaimed.

"Like GranGran!" Huifan added.

"We can play more with aunt Kya and uncle Bumi later. They're needed inside right now," Lin said.

"You'll be okay alone with them?" Bumi asked.

"They're my children, of course I will be okay with them," Lin replied staring blankly on the horizon while the kids slipped and slid over the icy surfaces and ice formations Kya made for them.

* * *

"Where's Linny? I heard her feet during the family-only ceremony!" Toph demanded.

"She joined us only because she had to leave for the city early and couldn't come to the friends ceremony." Katara replied.

"You're lying. I can feel her presence on the mountainside."

* * *

Lin found a cave and crawled in with her babies and worked on their seismic sense for a short while before leaning against the cave wall and falling asleep with one baby in her lap and the other two under her arms.

"Mama! Someone's coming!" Huifan shrieked shaking Lin awake.

No wonder Lin wasn't startled. The footsteps and tunneling technique was too familiar.

"Chief," Lin said sternly holding her children closer to her.

"I see you and Baldy have been busy," Toph said with a smirk.

"Why are you here?"

"To pay my respects to one of my best friends, obviously-"

"Then you should be in the temple doing just that. I mean, why are you coming after me?" Lin clarified.

"I needed to see with my own eyes or feet that what I was feeling in the swamp wasn't a dream. I can see everything from there. You and Su in Republic City and Zaofu. I saw all of your heart to hearts with Aang. All of them, I know how much he meant to you. And how hurt you are now that he is gone. I saw you give birth to Hungjian. I saw your water break at the station with Huifan. It is how I knew to come. I watched her fight through that fever. She will be the one to replace me as the greatest earthbender in the world," Toph said.

"Awwww!" Hungjian groaned as Huifan smiled excitedly.

"I saw conceiving Jinkun was hard for you but you managed—"

Lin was crying. "Why are you telling me this? Why didn't you come? What kind of mother is so content with seeing her child suffer and not come to help more often?!" Lin demanded.

"Because you were in no state to accept whatever help I had to offer. Lin, listen to me. Even though Twinkle Toes is gone, you must wait a little while longer. Time is an illusion and so is death. I've seen all that you've seen and almost all that you _will_ see. You cannot give up on Tenzin. You cannot give up on the Air Nation. You WILL have airbending children—"

"But what if I can't!"

"You will. Trust me Linny—"

"Don't call me that! You lost that privilege when you LEFT ME!" Lin cried.

"Mama!" Huifan stood and wrapped her arms around her mother's neck and shoved her cute little face into Lin's knowing that she had a magic calming effect when her mother was distressed. Lin took a deep breath and kissed Huifan and regained her composure.

"You will have at least three airbenders in your future,"

"At least?" Lin asked shuddering at the mere thought of going through labor three more times.

"Some of the visions were unclear. Four more airbenders kept appearing after you birthed three,"

"Three?" Lin grimaced at the thought of pushing three more babies through her birth canal.

"Yes, three. Didn't think you could get out of motherhood that easy, did you?"

"When will I return to the force?"

"Unfortunately, sooner than you'd prefer."

"And who would watch my children?"

"With your level of paranoia, they will have to watch each other, because you won't trust just anybody with your offspring."

Lin looked down at her babies who were all completely awake and looking up at her with uncertainty on their round little faces. Jinkun gathered bits of her shirt in his tiny fists and Huifan and Hungjian held onto her arms.

"They're too small,"

"They won't be forever, Linny. You will have to hurry, though. The world won't be as patient as Baldy."

"The world doesn't control me," Lin replied.

"It will," Toph warned her.

Lin looked up with anger. "Why are you really here, Chief?" Lin asked refusing to call her mother 'mother'.

"Well I wanted to help you own up to the fact that you can't hide the truth forever. You can't hide these babies—"

"I can try!" Lin said snatching them all up in her arms at once fleeing the cave with her bending and heading back to their dormitories on the Southern Air Temple.

* * *

"Mama," Huifan asked that evening in the fire light while she read a newspaper and watched her children play on the area rug, waiting for Tenzin to come to bed.

"Yes? Love?"

"What is a burden?"

"Something really difficult to manage or deal with that you don't want to have to concern yourself with but must regardless,"

"Mama, are we burdens?"

"No! Why on earth would you say such a thing? You're the greatest thing in the world to me! Love you and your brothers with my entire being. I would do anything for you!"

"Can you make Daddy come back soon? Daddy and Grandpa Aang?"

"Daddy will return soon, but I can't do anything about Grandpa Aang. If I could, I would, definitely," Lin replied as another wave of grief came over her. She clutched her head in pain.

"Mama?" Huifan climbed up onto the couch and into her mother's lap and pried at her eyes trying to use the magic she discovered not long ago, but her mother's eyes wouldn't open.

Kya and Tenzin entered then.

"I got this," Kya said bending water out of the skin sling over her back. She wrapped Lin's head in it and eased the pain while Huifan watched on with admiration.

"How was your day?" Tenzin asked picking up Jinkun and Hungjian.

"Confusing," Hungjian replied.

"I bet. You'll understand more when you're older. Why don't we all rest now," Tenzin suggested tilting his head back and closing his eyes. The children agreed and they all went to sleep in the same bed as a family.

* * *

Once back in Republic City, Katara began packing for the South Pole.

"You're busy. I don't want to burden you with my presence."

"Katara, you're not a burden! You're a comfort. Please, don't go!"

"I'm so sorry, Lin," Katara sighed hugging the young earthbender for a long time before taking her leave.

The morning after Katara's departure, Lin found herself doing laundry alone while Tenzin helped the children get ready for the day.

She looked up when she sensed three vaguely familiar pairs of footsteps coming her way.

"Lady Beifong, we hope you have had an enjoyable moment so far," the first one spoke.

Lin wrung out the robes she was rinsing and tossed it into a basket destined for the clothes line and turned and stood. "Daiso," she said with a curt bow to the grand lotus.

"Lady Lin. How are you feeling?"

"Bereft, naturally," Lin replied returning to her laundry.

"As are we. With Avatar Aang gone, Tenzin is the last airbender left in the world,"

Lin sighed. "Is that all you care about?"

"The White Lotus's primary concern has and always will be the balance of the world. The world needs the Air Nation as much as it needs the Avatar, and you haven't had a child for two years, since Jinkun was born,"

Lin froze.

"If you don't have an airbending child within the next twelve months, then you must leave. Master Tenzin is getting older and if you cannot bear him the air benders that he needs then we must find someone who can," the White Lotus says.

Lin took a deep breath and sighed. "These things can't be forced. Please, Tenzin and I both just lost his father and his mother just left. We need time to grieve before jumping into anything!"

"The more time there is, the more risk!" Daiso said. "You have twelve months. Good day, Lady Beifong."

Lin threw the wet cape back into the basket and folded her arms over her face and cried.

On the other side of the island, Huifan looked up from their game. "Mama! MAMAAAAAA!"

"What's wrong?" Tenzin asked scooping up Huifan. "Are you okay? I'm here!" Tenzin said pushing the hair out of her eyes.

"I am okay, but Mama is crying I need to go to her! I can make it stop! Let me go!" Huifan yelled kicking and flailing her arms in the air making Tenzin drop her. She ran. Tenzin scooped up Jinkun and Hungjian and followed his only daughter.

"Mama! I feel you crying! What happen? You okay?" Huifan asked peeling her mother's hands from her face.

Lin enveloped the girl and just held her until her heart slowed.

"What happened? Is everything okay?" Tenzin asked.

"I'll talk to you later," Lin replied.

"Okay, now I have to finish the laundry my sweet. Why don't you go play with her father and brothers?"

"I can play later. Can I help you now?" Huifan asked, looking at the still-rather-full basket of dirty laundry.

Lin looked up at Tenzin who shrugged. "How about you hand me the clean laundry and I will hang it while Mama washes the dirty?" Tenzin asked.

"Okay," Huifan shrugged. Hungjian and Jinkun played together with a couple of pebbles while Tenzin, Lin, and Huifan finished the laundry together as a relatively content young family.


End file.
